Fraternizing with the 'Enemy'
by Wilting Rose 08
Summary: Two people, sent back in time to make sure what was supposed to happen, does happen. Unfortunately, they only have the vaguest of ideas about what should be going on... possible slash in later chapters, HBP spoilers
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer I own nothing, except maybe parts of the plot. Everything you recognize belongs to JKR.

Author's Note: ...Oops? Sorry, I couldn't resist starting a new story! The muse for this got into my head and kinda refused to leave. I think it actually packed the bags for all the others so they could go on vacation. At least, that's what it seems like. If you're wondering about when one of my other stories is going to be updated, it could be a while. The floppy disk I had everything saved on needed to be re-formatted, so I lost everything I had saved on it, including chapters in progress. However, I have bits and pieces of hard copy for all of them, so it shouldn't be _too_ long, once I actually start typing... The semi-good news is that I'm now so paranoid that I've saved my stories in three different places...

Enough with that, on with the story!

Fraternizing with the 'Enemy'

Prologue

"Now boys, I'm sure you're both wondering why I called you here," Headmistress McGonagall said, surveying the two men seated across from her.

"We're all aquiver with anticipation," Severus Snape said, rolling his eyes.

"Of course we're interests," Harry Potter said, shooting a slightly irritated, slightly amused look at the man next to him. After all, neither of them had a job that pertained even remotely to Hogwarts anymore, even though they had both taught at some point.

"How would the two of you like to teach again?" McGonagall asked.

"How about no," Harry said quickly, while Snape's reply was more along the lines of "Not _even_ when Hell freezes over."

"You didn't let me finish," she snapped, this time acting more like she had as Transfiguration professor instead of Dumbledore. 'Seriously,' Harry thought. 'Manipulative is apparently in the job description for head of the school.' "How would you like to teach in 1977?"

"Oh, _that_ changes my mind," Snape said, rolling his eyes once again.

"Well you're going to say yes eventually," the headmistress said smugly, turning back from strict Transfiguration professor to Dumbledore. "Because both of you _did_ teach then." Silence greeted this statement.

"Well fine then," Harry sighed. "When do we leave and when do we get back?"

"You leave immediately. I've already sent a notice to the Ministry telling them you'll be unavailable for an unspecified amount of time. I've also had your respective house elves pack what you need."

"What makes you think the Ministry will just let us leave?" Severus argued.

"You are the two best employees in the Department of Mysteries. And, if you _do_ lose your job, you can always work here," McGonagall supplied.

"Yeah, right," Severus snarled. "Why aren't you making a bigger fuss about this?" he asked, turning to Harry.

"It's already happened, hasn't it. You know you're going to say yes. Besides," he added in a teasing voice. "I'm independently wealthy. 'Course, come to think of it, so are you."

"Impertinent brat," Severus muttered. The other two ignored it in favor of staring at him expectantly. "Fine! I'll go!"

About an hour later, Harry and Severus were once again standing in front of McGonagall, having completed some last-minute packing. While their house elfs' had packed the main things they would need, they had forgotten a few details, like an old piece of parchment Harry kept in a drawer in his room.

"Alright. I will perform the spell to send you back, and you'll do the spell to bring you here. Good luck," McGonagall said as she fine-tuned Severus's glamour and handed each man a slip of paper. Harry, it had been decided, had changed enough not to be recognized as James and Lily's son. Severus, however, was much too recognizable. "Harry, you will be using the name Jonathan Granger. Severus, you'll be using the name Lance Collins."

"How long do we stay?" Harry asked.

"The complete year, most likely, although the only part you _have_ to be there for is the attack. After that, it's up to you. I'll send you there about a week before term starts. _Please_ try not to fight. Oh! You can also send letters using that spell, as it is one that can be used on about everything, to send it back to the caster's regular time. I have a spell that will allow us to communicate from here as well. Try to behave while your gone," McGonagall said, not quite grinning at the pair. While they got along infinitely better than they had, they still fought. Now, however, the fights were more teasing than actually meant to hurt the other.

"Yes Mother," Harry grinned. Severus glared, having decided that remaining silent was most likely the best way to keep from completely cursing the office and everyone in it.

"Ready?" McGonagall asked. As both men nodded, she cast the spell. In a blinding flash of light, she was alone in her office again.

Meanwhile, having traveled through space and time…

Harry and Severus landed with a thunk outside the doors to Hogwarts.

"I never thought I'd find a way to travel that I hated more than portkeying," Harry said, standing up from his extremely ungraceful landing.

"We need to find Dumbledore," Severus said, eyeing the castle doors. Harry nodded before leading the way inside.

Just inside the Entrance Hall, they met someone whom Harry recognized to be a young Madame Hooch.

"Can I help you?" she asked hesitantly.

"We're here to apply for the teaching positions," Harry smiled.

"Oh! Follow me, and I'll take you to Dumbledore!" she exclaimed before heading up the stairs. Severus and Harry glanced at each other in amusement before following.

"Just a bit further," Madame Hooch called over her shoulder. "Ah! Here we are! There's just time to talk to Dumbledore before the staff meeting! Cockroach Cluster!" The gargoyle slowly moved aside, revealing the long revolving staircase that led to the Head's office.

"That woman is _way_ to…chipper," Severus muttered darkly.

"She probably just has a _huge_ crush on you!" Harry whispered brightly.

"Just what, exactly, did I do to get stuck with you?" Severus glared. Harry only grinned.

The two had reached an understanding during the war, having been forced together quite often. Halfway through the summer holidays after Harry's sixth year, McGonagall had called him to Hogwarts, saying Dumbledore's portrait wanted to talk to him. The portrait explained just what, exactly, was going on, that he had been dying anyway, and that for Severus to kill him had been for the best for all concerned, really. This way, Draco Malfoy wouldn't become a killer. Severus would rise even higher in the ranks of the Death Eaters, therefore being privy to more information. Dumbledore would die a painless death, and anyway, he could still communicate, so it wasn't like he was truly gone, he just didn't have a physical body.

After that, Harry and Severus had grudgingly worked together. They got along quite a bit better when they could meet each other on the same level, instead of Severus having the authority of a teacher over Harry. They had, over the space of four years, grown considerably closer, so that by the time the war was over, they were friends. Two years of being separated except for rare occasions hadn't damaged the friendship in the slightest.

"Ah, Madame Hooch! To what do I owe the honor?" Dumbledore said they entered. "And who are your friends?"

"I'm Jonathan Granger," Harry said, glad he remembered his cover. "And this is Lance Collins. We came to apply for the open teaching positions."

"Ah yes. And what kind of credentials do you have? By the way, which of you is applying for which position?" Dumbledore asked, leaning back in his chair, blue eyes twinkling as if he knew exactly what they were going to say.

"I'll be applying for Potions. I am a Master in the field," Severus replied. "I have also taught for several years."

"I'm afraid I'm not a Master at Defense as of yet," Harry admitted. "I was offered it when… well, I felt I should go through the tests anyway, so no one could say anything. I have, however, taught the subject before, and some of my experiences in the field I doubt you'd believe."

Dumbledore stared at them a few moments. "Who are you really?" he asked as the rest of the staff arrived, startling all of them. "I completely believe most of your credentials, oddly enough, as that is what most would fake. However, I believe nothing else. You are both so skilled at Occlumency that I can't break through, which, I must admit, worries me greatly as I am one of the best Legilimens around. I also don't remember seeing you before, which could be easily explained, I know, as could most of the rest of my doubts. However, the most worrying part is that one of you has a connection to Voldemort and the other is actually a Death Eater!" The staff that had gathered gasped, seemingly alerting Dumbledore's attention to them for the first time.

Harry and Severus glanced at each other, knowing each other well enough to be able to communicate without words. After all, you can't expect to browse through someone's personal, intimate memories without knowing them _extremely_ well.

"We'll tell you," Harry said slowly. "It's more than a little hard to believe, however, so, if nothing else, keep an open mind." He stopped there, however, chewing on his bottom lip, trying to decide where to begin. "I guess the first thing you need to know is that we're not from this time. We actually come from the year 2000." Silence, then disbelief greeted this statement.

"I don't believe it," Professor McGonagall announced.

"My dear Professor, you sent us here yourself," Harry grinned, reminding the Professors of _someone_, but as they were still convinced they should be from their time, they didn't realize who.

"I still don't believe it."

"What is your real name, and the qualifications that you have that you don't think I'll believe?" Dumbledore asked before the two could argue.

"Harry Potter, pleasure to meet you again." Harry smirked as the teachers gasped.

"James Potter's son?" Flitwick gasped. Harry nodded.

"So that would make you…?" Hooch asked Snape.

"He still needs to tell Dumbledore his qualifications," Snape said, waving them away. They _would_ have figured out who he was then, if he wasn't just about the last person they expected to find with James Potter's son.

"Fine," Harry said, shooting Severus an amused look. "You want to know what qualifies me to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts? At age one I survived the Killing Curse. It rebounded and hit Voldemort, defeating him for the first time. In my first, second, fourth, fifth, and seventh years at Hogwarts, as well as in quite a few battles after that, I faced him again, although only in actual, human, living form after my fourth year. Finally, I defeated him at age 22. In my second year, I also defeated a Basilisk. In my fourth year, I competed in and won the Triwizard Tournament, as both the youngest and the fourth champion. By my third year I could conjure a completely corporeal Patronus, and use it against hundreds of Dementors. In my fifth year, I started a defense group which I taught. After I graduated from Hogwarts, I started teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. After defeating Voldemort, I started as an Unspeakable, and have been there ever since. Is that enough?" He gazed at the shocked faces staring at him. "Your turn," he said, turning to Severus.

Severus opened his mouth as if to start speaking, but abruptly shut it in favor of staring into space, a haunted look gracing his features. Suddenly, he turned and walked out the door, completely lost in thought.

"Sev?" Harry called, alarmed. Completely ignoring the others in the room, he ran out as well.

"'Sev?'" McGonagall questioned. "Surely not…"

"You wouldn't think so," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "However, it could very well be. The man was wearing quite a few glamour charms, so apparently we would easily recognize him without them. Who else is there that fits?"

"But you still have the fact that they are a _Potter_ and a _Snape_. Those two families haven't gotten along in centuries!" Professor Binns exclaimed.

"Until now, if our guess is correct," Dumbledore responded, looking at each teacher in turn. "I have a feeling they will be back shortly. Now, shall we start the meeting?" He was about to continue when he saw the trunk Harry had left behind open slowly, before a old piece of parchment and an odd colored cloak rose out of it. "Now what are those for?"

Meanwhile, Harry couldn't find Severus anywhere. He just hoped he hadn't taken refuge too far into the dungeons; Harry would never be able to find him there. Sighing with frustration, he did what he should have done before he left the office, and summoned the Marauders Map, and, on second thought, his Invisibility Cloak.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he whispered. The map quickly came to life, revealing all of Hogwarts. Ah, there he was. On top of the Astronomy Tower. Shit. Now, this wasn't the problem it could have been. After all, Harry was 99.99 certain that Severus wasn't going to jump. No, he was just reliving that night at the end of Harry's sixth year. Even though Severus appeared, to most, to have moved on, anyone who knew him well, which was a grand total of about two people, could tell that he still hadn't healed from Dumbledore's death, especially his part in it. Harry sighed once again before heading up to the top of the tower, followed by McGonagall, who had stepped out of the tower to Dumbledore's office and was trying to stay hidden.

"Sev?" Harry called quietly as he stepped out onto the top of the Astronomy Tower. "Are you alright?" Harry didn't get a response. Instead, Severus simply continued staring out over the horizon. Harry walked slowly towards him, until he was leaning beside him on the ledge.

They stood in silence for a bit. "You know it's not your fault, right?" Harry asked, apparently deciding that the direct approach was the best course of action.

"I seem to have heard that a time or two, yes. Of course, you should know, as it's usually you telling me," Severus replied, still looking out towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Yet you refuse to believe it," Harry finished wryly. They sat in silence for another little bit.

"I still don't understand how any of you can trust me," Severus said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Especially you, knowing all you do." Harry covertly cast a silencing charm. It was hidden enough that McGonagall didn't notice, especially as she didn't know what to look for, and Severus was distracted enough that he didn't even flinch like he usually would as the ward took effect.

"How could I not, knowing what I do?" Harry questioned.

* * *

Author's Note: How did you like it? I had never seen this particular spin on time travel, so I decided I needed to give it a shot. I'm still debating on whether or not this should be slash, however. Please tell me in a reviewif you care one way or the other! 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.

Author's Note: My muses just wouldn't quit for this story, and wouldn't start for any other, so look what you got! Thank you all for the lovely reviews!

Chapter 1

Fraternizing with the 'Enemy'

_"I still don't understand how any of you can trust me," Severus said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Especially you, knowing all you do." Harry covertly cast a silencing charm. It was hidden enough that McGonagall didn't notice, especially as she didn't know what to look for, and Severus was distracted enough that he didn't even flinch like he usually would as the ward took effect. _

_"How could I not, knowing what I do?" Harry questioned. _

McGonagall strained to hear what was being said. She started forward, only to be stopped by an invisible wall. Sighing, she settled back against the wall, content to wait out whatever was so important that they had to put up a silencing spell.

Meanwhile, inside the bubble, an argument that had already been hashed through many times before was being fought once again. The topic was always the same, as was the arguments used and the sides taken.

"Anyway," Harry continued. "That's my problem, isn't it."

"I _willingly_ joined him."

"And you _willingly_ switched sides." The argument continued for several minutes, both too stubborn to back down, until Harry conceded. This time, anyways.

"We should get going," he finally sighed. "McGonagall must have something _extremely_ important to say; she's been sitting there for quite a while."

"What? You mean she heard everything?" Severus asked, a shocked and betrayed look on his face.

"Of course not," Harry replied calmly. "Give me at least a _little_ credit. I put up a silencing charm a little bit after we got up here. She only heard the very beginning of our conversation." With that, he took down the silencing barrier. "Now, I suggest we go see just what's so important."

"What, exactly, is the cause for this interruption?" Severus glared. IT took all of McGonagall's nerve to not step back.

"Some of the staff doubts your capabilities in defending the castle. They request that you duel Dumbledore, so they can see a true representation of your skills."

"That's bullshit," Harry said with a grin, although anyone who knew him well, which McGonagall didn't yet, could tell that he didn't really mean it. "If they want an accurate demonstration of our skills against a swarm of Death Eaters, we should duel all of them." McGonagall did a wonderful imitation of a fish out of water for a moment before recovering.

"Dumbledore is one of the strongest wizards in the world," she sniffed. "So of course it's an accurate measure."

"Think about it," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Right now, Voldemort and Dumbledore are about on the same level, right?" McGonagall nodded. "As people age, their magic continues to get stronger until they reach about 170, when it levels off, to an extent. Now, people _can _level off before then, having tapped into that power earlier. However, neither Dumbledore, nor Voldemort, know how to do that, meaning that the Voldemort I've fought against had at _least_ four years more power than he does right now. When I defeated him the final time, it was more than twenty years more."

"Fine, we'll ask Dumbledore what he thinks. Follow me," McGonagall said, stalking down the steps.

"Ah, Minerva!" Dumbledore called as they came into view of the stone gargoyle that guarded the staircase to his office. "I was wondering where you had gotten to!"

"They've agreed to a duel, but think it would be a better representation of their skills in defending the castle to duel the entire faculty at once."

"An excellent idea," Dumbledore concluded, shocking most of the staff. "What are the rules?"

"Normal training?" Harry questioned. Most stared at him with blank looks, but Severus shrugged then nodded. "Anything but the Killing Curse is allowed."

"The other two Unforgivables are acceptable?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Of course," Harry shrugged. "You have to learn how to fight against them somehow, so we always used them in practice duels. Better to have a friend in control of your mind than an enemy, until you can break the spell. This needs to be as much like a real battle as possible, excluding numbers and allies."

"Let's go then," Dumbledore said. "We'll duel outside."

As soon as they exited the castle, spells started flying. Dumbledore stood back, observing the fray. He watched as his staff battled the two newest members who, despite the odds, were holding their own. Then, right before his eyes, the two seemed to step up their attack, taking out Professors Sprout, Vector, and Sinestra, as well as Madame Hooch and Madame Pomfrey. There were only six teachers left dueling, Professors Kettleburn, Flitwick, McGonagall, Lawrence (Ancient Runes), Kale (Muggle Studies), and Marin (Divination). At Dumbledore's order, they divided the pair, and attempted to awake their colleagues. This didn't work, however, as they had been put under the Body-Bind curse, which had to run it's course, instead of Stunners, which as they knocked the person fully unconscious, could be reversed by the awakening spell, _Enervate_.

Not a single spell had hit Harry or Severus. With Harry's wandless magic and Severus's defensive potions, they could maintain shields and fire curses of their own at the same time. Seeing this, the professors soon adapted a similar method, with one of the three holding a shield while the other two fired spells. He watched as Harry spotted this and grinned before dropping his wandless shield and snapping a wand into his left hand. Dumbledore thought that his staff would beat him until Harry conjured up another shield, using neither wand nor hand. Dumbledore practically refused to believe that the boy could use telekinesis. He and Voldemort couldn't even do that. He didn't know a single wizard alive today who could do that. There were rumors that the founders had been able to, but no one knew for sure.

Harry quickly took out Flitwick, using a spell Dumbledore had never heard of. The other two were quickly taken out. Harry advanced on Dumbledore as Severus managed to take out Lawrence and Kale, leaving only McGonagall. Taking advantage of Dumbledore's lapse as he watched Severus and McGonagall, Harry sent two quick strings of spells at him, not all of which were strictly legal. Dumbledore hurriedly erected a shield before diving to the ground. Harry, however, had apparently expected this, as he fired more spells at the base of the shield, where all shields are their weakest. The duel continued for several minutes, far longer than Severus and McGonagall's. Finally, however, Harry managed to get a Stunner around Dumbledore's shield, just as the professors were starting to regain control of their limbs.

"Satisfied?" Harry smirked, shooting an amused look at the professors.

"Sorry we doubted you," Flitwick said, and the others nodded as Dumbledore woke up.

"Now," he said, clapping his hands together as if what he had to say was the most exciting thing on earth. "There's still one more matter that needs to be taken care of. Who is going to be head of Slytherin house?" This question was greeted with blank looks. It was always hard to find heads of houses. He had to beg Professor Sprout for _weeks_ before she had consented to filling the position as head of Hufflepuff house. With the war going on, and as Slytherins were the main players for Voldemort, this would be even harder.

Harry and Severus appeared lost in thought, having dazed expressions on their faces. They could tell, with only minor Legilimency, that the question wasn't solely directed at them, but rather, at all the teachers. However, they also get definite signs that Dumbledore expected one of them to be his best bet, if only because none of the others had volunteered before.

"If we can split it, it's a deal," Harry said, seemingly coming out of his trance.

"That's _not_ what we agreed on," Severus snapped, glaring at him.

"Shoulda said something first," Harry replied as innocently as he could.

"I thought you were too _Gryffindor_ to do that," Severus responded, sounding as if that was the best insult he could have ever thought up.

"You know as well as I do that the hat wanted to put me in Slytherin," Harry shrugged.

"I see nothing wrong with a joint head of house," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "Although I reserve the right to take one of you out of the position if this doesn't work."

"Deal," Harry said quickly, not wanting to have to be head of house on his own, which was exactly what would happen if Severus managed to answer first.

"Now, are you going to join the Order?"

"Technically, we're already members," Severus pointed out.

"That's kinda confusing, don't you think?" Harry asked thoughtfully. "Because for us, we already are, but for them, we aren't, because the time we joined hasn't happened yet. So, are we or aren't we?"

"Your intelligence is astounding," Severus replied, rolling his eyes. "It is quite obvious why the hat never even _suggested_ Ravenclaw."

"I do believe I've been insulted," Harry teased.

"At least your intelligence has grown _that_ much."

"Ha ha ha ha. You weren't exactly in Ravenclaw _either_."

"So?"

"Your logic is astounding."

"Thank you."

"Can we get on with this?" McGonagall asked as Harry opened his mouth to respond.

"Of course we'd love to join in now," Harry replied.

"Excellent! The next meeting is tonight," Dumbledore said. "I'll show you to your rooms now."

The two newest professors followed Dumbledore, fully expecting to be led to the rooms they occupied in the future. After all, those were the customary rooms of the positions they were now occupying. Severus was in fact led to his future rooms. Harry, however, was not.

"As you are the new co-Head of Slytherin house, I felt it best that your rooms would be closer to the common room," Dumbledore explained, seeing Harry's curious look.

"That's fine," Harry said, waving away the explanation. "I just want to know how, exactly, you knew I'd accept."

"Let's just call it a hunch," Dumbledore said. "Settle in; the meeting starts at 8."

Eight o'clock found every member of the Order not on a mission sitting in the Great Hall.

"We have much to discuss tonight. The first thing will be introducing our two new members, Lance Collins and Jonathan Granger," Dumbledore announced. "They are also filling the positions of Potions professor and Defense Against the Dark Arts professor respectively."

"Are you at least _adequate_ in Defense?" a voice called.

"I like to think so," Harry answered mildly.

"How so?" a different voice asked. Apparently Dumbledore's options for Defense teachers had been slipping for some time already.

"I can teach them to ward off two of the three Unforgivables, as well as many other Dark curses. I can teach them to play to their strengths, so they don't necessarily have to know the counter spell if their talent isn't in Defense; they can use Transfiguration or Charms or Potions or many other things. I can teach them to duel. I can teach them to fight the muggle way, both with weapons and without. And if I _don't_ know something, I have practically unlimited resources to find out," Harry replied calmly. "How does that sound?"

"Can you really? I find it hard to believe that someone so young can know all of those things," the first replied.

"Would you like to find out?" Harry asked, starting to lose patience. He could fully understand that they were concerned about their children; that's why they joined the Order, after all, to protect them from Voldemort, but this was getting ridiculous. Of course, given some of Dumbledore's choices…

"I would, actually," the man said, emerging from the crowd. It was a man Harry knew only from pictures. A man who probably could have beaten Dumbledore in a duel if their power levels had been a bit closer together. His grandfather, Edward Potter.

"Just what would you like me to prove?"

"Anything you can," Edward Potter replied. "Like how on earth do you throw off the Cruciartus Curse?"

"No one can, not completely. It still hurts like hell, just not as much as before. The only thing for it is practice. If your unfortunate enough to get captured by Death Eaters, they are fairly good at giving you all the practice you need to increase your pain tolerance. Nothing can block all of the effects, but that's the closest anyone I know has ever come up with."

"You think you're going to teach our students _that_?"

"Of course not," Harry snapped. "Do you actually think I'd be that _careless_? There is absolutely no pride to be had in saying that you've been put under the Cruciartus Curse so many times, that your pain tolerance is so high that you don't really notice a broken wrist until you try to cast a spell. I _could_ kill you many different ways, and none of them use Dark magic. I could pick up a goblet from this table and throw it at you, killing you instantly if my aim is good enough."

"And you can teach our children to defend against this?"

"And use it to their advantage against Death Eaters who are too stuck in blood purity to realize that Muggles just might have superior weapons," Harry confirmed. "Is that enough?"

Edward Potter could only nod before stepping back.

"Are you all quite satisfied?" Dumbledore asked. He found it amusing that, should the Order know the two newest professors' actual names, it most definitely wouldn't be Harry who would have had to defend himself. 'Sad, too, really,' he thought to himself. "Let's continue with the meeting…"

Two days later, the faculty of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were once again stuck in a staff meeting in Dumbledore's office. This time, however, they were confirming course schedules. Suddenly, the discussion was interrupted by a loud buzzing noise, coming from one of Dumbledore's shelves.

"Potter Manor is under attack. Minerva, alert the rest of the Order; it sounds big." She nodded, grabbing a figurine off Dumbledore's desk, one in the shape of a phoenix. Harry glanced at it interestedly; he'd never seen one, so they must have been scrapped before the end of this war. He was still considering why as he grabbed on to the port-key they were using to leave Hogwarts.

They landed hard, bouncing off of unexpected anti-port-key wards.

"You wouldn't happen to have a headache potion, would you?" Harry asked, gritting his teeth in pain at what he recognized to be wards against telekinesis. Severus handed him a potion, giving him an odd look.

Harry downed the potion, all the while thinking hard. He was the only Order of the Phoenix member who had _ever _been skilled at telekinesis. Why would they put up wards? Then it hit him. Somehow, at least one of the spells that transported things to the past had leaked out. Hopefully it was only the one that sent inanimate objects back.

Feeling the potion take affect and lessen the affect of the wards, Harry took time to survey the scene. Something was off… Sure, there were Death Eaters dueling Order members, and people falling on both sides, but there was something… Suddenly, he knew. The Death Eaters were using spells they had invented. Twenty years in the future. Once he realized what was off, he knew it shouldn't have thrown him so much. It was simply a surprise. He quickly rushed into the fray.

The battle went on for what seemed like hours. The Order was losing. Not badly yet, but enough to still be considered losing. Harry knew that if he didn't get the wards preventing his full potential down soon, they would _really_ lose.

As he started working, he heard someone approach.

"So it _is_ true," a young Lucius Malfoy drawled from behind a Death Eater mask. "I must say, I found it hard to swallow at first. Honestly. A telekinesis, and able to survive the Killing Curse?"

"Get lost, Malfoy," Harry replied. "Go fight someone more on your level, like a two-year-old."

"_Avada Kedarva_!" Malfoy called, firing one of the first Killing Curses. Harry simply let it hit him as he felt the wards fall.

"Did you not believe it?" Harry smirked. He concentrated for a moment, before sending a spell at Malfoy that knocked him at least twenty feet backwards.

"It has also been said," Malfoy continued, doing his best to appear unfazed. "That you are the first Potter in many, many years to use the Dark Arts."

"Can no Death Eater keep their mouth shut?" Harry asked rhetorically, fairly certain that no one could hear them. Unfortunately, he was wrong, although the person who overheard wasn't about to let that slip just yet. Harry, having had enough of Malfoy, quickly stunned and bound him before snapping his wand. He heard shouting coming from near the Manor. He knew that a few Order members who were trying to break the wards the Death Eaters put up, and James and Sirius were barricaded inside. From the sounds of it, they had just been joined by Death Eaters.

Author's Note: How'd you like it? Tell me in a review, and thanks to all who reviewed the previous chapter!

Oh, and please, tell me your opinion on if this should be slash or not! At the moment, slash is winning, but it won't matter for another few chapters, so please tell me! 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Course, you know that by now...

Author's Note: Not sure how I feel about this chapter...oh well. Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter!

Fraternizing with the 'Enemy'

Chapter 2

Harry darted towards the manor, keeping a shield up the entire time now that the telekinesis wards were down. There were, of course, spells that could get through the shield, but the Unforgivables didn't affect him a whole hell of a lot, and the rest were Dark Curses that were only still legal because they were practically obsolete.

He knew the people attempting to take the wards down would need help, as the wards that the Death Eaters had put up blocking port-keys, and most likely apparition, completely, were most likely interwoven into the wards for the manor. Actually, Harry reflected as he moved ever closer, they could have simply modified the wards. If no one was really paying attention, they never would have noticed, unlike the alarms that would have sounded should the Death Eaters have tried to put new wards over the old ones. As such, the wards, especially if modified, would have to be taken down from the inside, and would have an amazing amount of power behind them. He was just glad that, as telekinesis was so rare, there had been no need for the Potter who had completed the wards to ward against someone using that particular kind of magic.

He finally reached the spot the Death Eaters had broken in through, and slipped through the opening, hoping to remain unnoticed. He quickly found the Death Eaters. They were trying to get through a door that apparently led to the people working on the wards, and were apparently close, if the shouts from inside were any indication.

He watched nearly helplessly as the Death Eaters finally broke through. He knew he couldn't do anything now but try to take out as many as he could, helping the people inside. After all, even if there was only one person inside, although from the shouts he knew there were at least three as two had been yelling and talking about at least one more person trapped with them, his odds were improved. The duel against five Hogwarts professors hadn't been nearly as hard as a duel against five Death Eaters would be. After all, most of the Professors had taught him, so he knew their style. They also were afraid to use anything truly Dark, where a Death Eater would have no such qualms. The best Order member would probably be able to duel three, if they weren't powerful enough to use wandless magic or have other efficient ways of defending themselves. However, as he entered the room, he knew his odds were still roughly the same. After all, what person would abandon two people who were, for most purposes, still children? Especially if one was their son and the other someone they loved like one.

No one had noticed him yet except for the teens. Taking advantage of that, he disillusioned himself, slipping around the edge of the fight, not bothering to fire any curses to alert them to his position just yet, as two Death Eaters had shields up that would stop any curse that he could use that wouldn't completely convince the adults he was a Dark wizard in disguise. As he approached the teens, he realized that, had Dumbledore hired decent teachers, they wouldn't be this unprepared. After all, it wasn't a question of _could_ they use magic. They could, as this would definitely be considered an emergency. They barely, however, knew a strong enough shield to block a Summoning charm, much less something much stronger.

"Are the pair of you good enough at Transfiguration to conjure something to block spells?" he whispered.

James and Sirius both nodded, albeit shakily, before casting the desire spell. The brick wall appeared for a second, then wavered. 'Crap,' Harry thought. 'Although it's definitely no surprise they can't concentrate enough.'

"How about we all cast," Harry suggested, eyeing the situation. The senior Potters were holding their own, but barely. "Then you keep it going." They cast together this time; Harry providing the focus while the other two provided the power. Seeing as they could hold the brick wall, Harry turned to the battle. Deciding it was time to become visible, especially as the Death Eaters had most probably noticed his spell work, he quickly dropped the Disillusionment Charm. The majority of the Death Eaters weren't all that surprised, although Mr. and Mrs. Potter sure were when they saw his first spell fly by. The Potter's had gotten the number of Death Eaters down to seven in the time Harry entered the fight. Apparently Edward Potter didn't have too much problem with using the occasional Dark curse to protect his family. Of course, few people did in that type of situation.

Soon, there were only two Death Eaters left standing. Edward and Amanda left them to Harry, opting instead to check on the teens. Taking advantage of their distraction, Harry used one of the rare Dark curses that could harm even him. The Death Eaters were down and twitching in no time. He heard gasps from behind him. Shit, one of them had seen that. He didn't have time to dwell on that thought, however, as he felt a burning in his pocket.

"Yeah?" he snapped.

"Where are you?" Severus growled.

"In the manor. About to attempt to take down at least some of the wards. Why?"

"We need help." Harry could hear the sounds of the battle quite clearly, but they didn't sound _much_ worse than usual. "Voldemort's here." Harry swore, ignoring the gasps behind him at hearing Voldemort's name, and the stares he got after.

"Alright. I'm coming." He closed the connection, turning to the others in the room. "You need to get out of here. Now."

"And just why do you think you can order us around?" Edward asked, stepping forward.

"I'm not ordering you around. I'm pointing out the practical approach. If Voldemort wanted the two of you, he could attack _anywhere_, like somewhere with a huge muggle population, and you'd come running, right? So why would he attack here? What would possibly be here he couldn't get some other way?" Leaving them with that thought, he jogged out of the room.

Scanning the grounds outside the manor, he quickly found Voldemort. He had been dueling Dumbledore, until he got a Cruciartus through Dumbledore's defenses.

"Where is he? I'm going to destroy him anyway, so there's no point in making yourself suffer uselessly," Voldemort was taunting.

"Keeping people away from you is never useless, Tom," Dumbledore gasped out. He had managed to keep from screaming so far, but he was unable to remain standing. Taking advantage of Voldemort's preoccupied state, Harry sent a spell at Voldemort's back. One that, while technically legal, definitely shouldn't be. Voldemort spun around, visibly fighting to not let the effects show, as well as visibly losing the fight.

"So you're the one that's supposed to be my downfall," Voldemort sneered. "Doubtful."

"I'm not the ones whose eyes are watering in pain," Harry pointed out snidely. Voldemort glared, not dignifying the statement with a response except to fire off a curse, expecting Harry to break the spell he was under to defend himself. He hadn't counted on Harry having more ways than one to use magic. Harry blocked the spell. Voldemort hadn't counted on that. He decided that he needed to rethink this, and quick.

"Death Eaters!" he boomed across the grounds. "Retreat!" Instantly, all Death Eaters still mobile enough to activate their emergency port-keys disappeared.

"Are you okay, sir?" Harry asked, helping Dumbledore up. Dumbledore nodded wearily, although it was glaringly obvious he was anything but. "Uh-huh. We'll see what Madame Pomfrey has to say about that." Dumbledore frowned, but allowed Harry to port-key him to Hogwarts.

"About time you came," Madame Pomfrey snapped, bustling over. "All of the Order members who were seriously injured, which wasn't many, were taken to St. Mungo's." Dumbledore nodded wearily before sitting down on one of the unoccupied beds. "Just what happened to you?"

"He was under the Cruciartus," Harry answered when it became apparent that Dumbledore wasn't about to tell the nurse. She looked horrified.

"How long? No matter, get to St. Mungo's immediately!" Madame Pomfrey ordered.

"It'll be okay," Harry said, trying to pacify the nurse. She was, after all, a new Healer, and was trained in minor injuries, not battle magic like Ginny was. In his time, she was a very good mediwitch, and had taught Ginny most of the Battle Magic Healing. Now, however, she was too new at this, too uncertain about what she should do. "I'll just go get a potion-"

"There _is_ no potion to help with this!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed.

"Yes, there is," Harry said, trying to pacify her. This was, after all, something he was good at. No, not pacifying mediwitches, but people in general. "Lance?" he called, ignoring the stares of some of the Order members that hadn't been deemed injured enough to be moved to St. Mungo's.

"What?" Severus snapped as he approached. Then, however, he caught sight of Dumbledore. He handed Harry the Cruciartus potion without a word.

"What's that?" Madame Pomfrey asked curiously.

"Extremely strong pain potion; so strong it can block the after effects of the Cruciartus, so it's commonly called the Cruciartus potion." Pomfrey nodded before checking on some of the other patients.

"Granger!" Harry heard someone yell. He turned, spying Edward Potter standing in the doorway.

"Yeah?" Harry responded, moving closer.

"I wanted to apologize for doubting you. If you can teach the students how to do even some of that stuff, you're more than worthy to be the Defense professor. As you can saw, though, they're much farther behind than kids their age are supposed to be."

"They can't be worse off than my class was. We had a teacher that _actually_ wouldn't let us do spells, saying that if we understood the theory, the practical would be no problem. Then," he continued, seeing Severus approach. "There was one that decided we needed to know the _exact_ differences between ghosts and inferi. Simply knowing that one was solid and one wasn't just wasn't good enough."

"You _have_ to know the difference to be able to fight them," Severus glared. Harry could tell he was really amused, but the others thought Harry was about to be torn to pieces.

"Nuh-uh," Harry countered. "Solid things burn, while…not solid things don't. If it's an inferi, light it on fire. If it's a ghost, it can't hurt you anyway."

"But you have to-" Severus was cut off by Pomfrey.

"If you're not injured, get out!" she yelled, glaring at the two men. "You, what are you doing up?" She continued, approaching Edward. "I told you that you needed rest!"

Harry shot a sympathetic look at his future grandfather before scurrying out of the wing, afraid Madame Pomfrey would decide he should stay as well, Severus following close behind.

About an hour later, Harry was wondering the dungeons. He kept getting lost, but luckily, as this was, after Slytherin territory, there were lots of painting of snakes, which were more than happy to point him in the right direction once they realized he could understand them. He had just come out of a passage, and actually knew where he was for a change. He was near the entrance to the Slytherin common room. He heard whispers coming from down the hall.

"No…has to last…no one's here yet."

"So? Won't matter…work anyway…right spells…"

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Harry asked, startling James and Sirius from where they were staring avidly at the blank space of wall concealing the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

"Nothing," both replied with practice ease.

"Oh good. Because you see, I would hate to think you were planning a prank. After all, there are so many better targets. You see, I seem to recall hearing that one of the new Heads of Slytherin is one for revenge, while the other has access to pranking items you've never even heard of," Harry stated calmly.

"Where did Professor Slughorn go?" James asked curiously.

"South America, most likely. Anywhere away from the threat of Voldemort," Harry said.

"I take it you don't like him," Sirius said, amused.

"From what I've heard, as I've never actually met the man," Harry lied quickly, starting to steer them to higher parts of the castle. "He was very knowledgeable in both subjects he taught. He was also, apparently, the ideal Slytherin, having lots of connections and concern for his own skin. He does not, however, strike me as someone who would have been a very good head of house. Now, why don't you two get to your rooms. I'd hate to hear that you've booby-trapped Filch's office, or, worse yet, the staff room." Harry quickly turned, leaving the gob smacked Gryffindors to ponder whether or not he had _actually_ just told them to prank the staff room.

A few days later, all of the teachers minus McGonagall and Hagrid were seated at the staff table, awaiting the students' arrival. As the older students started pouring in, most eyed the staff table appraisingly, wondering just who would be teaching them this year. The Slytherins in particular shot many glances towards the staff table, curious as to who the new Head of Slytherin House would be.

Soon, McGonagall entered, leading a line of scared first years. She brought the Sorting Hat over, and the sorting began. As soon as it was over, Dumbledore stood.

"Welcome new students, and to the older years, welcome back. There are introductions that need to be made. I'm pleased to introduce Madame Hooch, our new flying instructor and Quidditch referee, Professor Collins, our new Potions professor, and Professor Granger, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Professors Collins and Granger have also agreed to co-head Slytherin house. Now, I do believe the rest of the announcements can wait until you have all eaten your fill, so let the feast begin!" Cheers rang out at this statement, although the appearance of food didn't stop the glances being shot at the staff table.

Over at the Gryffindor table, the Marauders were whispering frantically.

"He didn't seem like a Slytherin when we talked to him," Sirius said, puzzled. James nodded.

"Just because he's a co-head of Slytherin doesn't necessarily mean he is one," Remus said. "Maybe they were the only two who would head a house. I know I'd hate to be in charge of any of them, even Gryffindor. Or especially Gryffindor, however you want to look at it."

"And just what do you mean by that, Mr. Moony?" James asked.

"Would you want to be in charge of one fourth of the student population?" Remus asked logically. "Especially Gryffindor, given how much McGonagall's been dragged to Dumbledore's, or some other teacher's, office, because we've gotten in trouble, _again_."

"So?" Sirius asked. "What do you think, Peter?"

"I don't know. What Remus said is most likely, really." Sirius and James stared at him incredulously. After all, he _usually_ agreed with them. "What? After all, who would want to be head of Slytherin? They had to give it to the two new professors who didn't know the system." James and Sirius nodded approvingly.

"That's _not_ what I meant, and you know it!" Remus groaned, although he couldn't' say that he didn't expect them to come to that conclusion. The other Marauders ignored that outburst with almost practiced ease.

"You said on the train that Professor Granger was really nice," Peter mentioned. "What about the other two?"

"We don't really know," Sirius answered. "We didn't talk to Madame Hooch all that much, but when we did she seemed fairly nice. Professor Collins stayed in his lab the entire time. We tried to get it, but he had too many wards; we'd never even heard of an eight of them!"

"Did you really expect to have?" Remus asked. "After all, he's a fully qualified wizard, not to mention a potions master. Most of them were probably potion based, which isn't exactly a well-known branch of magic."

The meal continued in much the same fashion, although the topic of debate varied from classes to homework to upcoming pranks. Soon, dessert disappeared from the plates and Headmaster Dumbledore stood up.

"The Forbidden Forest is just that; forbidden. For the _complete_ of items banned by Mr. Filch, please consult the list outside his office. I'm told it has reached quite an impressive length, although I must admit I've never felt the urge to go read it. Now, I believe that's enough for tonight. Off to bed!"

Author's Note: Again, thanks to those who have reviewed, and please do so again! Also, tell me if you want slash...you can still vote on this for another few chapters, so vote now!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Not mine; anything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: Hopefully, updates will be a little more consistent now, although that would mean at least an update to _one_ story, not necessarily _this_ story, on weekends, as I gave up the Internet during weekdays for Lent (you have absolutely **no**idea how much time I was spending on here...) and have more time to write as I'm not constantly reading updates.

For any of you that are interested, Out of Our Hands will probably be updated next, maybe even later today (as it's currently 12:12 AM here). For now, though, here is...

Fraternizing with the 'Enemy'

Chapter 3

"Hello," Jonathan called out cheerfully, albeit nervously, staring into the sea of black that was Slytherin house. "As Dumbledore so kindly bellowed, I'm Professor Granger, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. By all means, call me Jonathan if the situation doesn't call for formality. Your turn," he said, turning to Lance, who rolled his eyes.

"I'm Professor Collins. I will be _attempting_ to teach you Potions, although past experience tells me not to expect too much." He ignored Jonathan's 'Love you, too,' and continued. "I do, however, expect a bit more from this house. Do not disappoint me."

"That's his way of saying he truly cares," Jonathan grinned. The Slytherins watched their heads of house with slight interest. One seemed like a Hufflepuff, or worse, a Gryffindor, while the other seemed to be Slytherin through and through. Now they just had to figure out which was which.

"I have a question, young men," a voice called from the back.

"Yes, Salazar? What can we do for you?" Jonathan called, knowing without even pausing to look that the portrait of the founder was the one talking.

"What, exactly, qualifies you to head my illustrious house?" Salazar questioned. "From what I've heard through Dumbledore, you in particular would be one of the last expected to volunteer to head Slytherin house, Professor…Granger."

"And what, exactly, are you looking for?" Jonathan asked, his shields rising, noticeably for anyone with even the slightest amount of training in either Legilimency or Occlumency.

"Proof," Salazar replied simply. "Proof that you are as powerful as you are. From what I have picked up from the headmaster, and no, he didn't tell me, his Occlumency shields just aren't what they should be around a master such as myself, you are powerful enough to have completely mastered wandless magic." Jonathan nodded, not liking where this conversation was most likely going, even if he couldn't say he actually blamed him much. If he were Salazar Slytherin, he wouldn't want someone from a notoriously Gryffindor family becoming head of house, either, without proof that they would do the house good. "However, I must admit, you're already different from what I expected."

"Thank you. I think," Jonathan replied before turning back to the confused students. Salazar would find what he was looking for, and there wasn't anything Jonathan could to do prove anything to him right now, anyway. "Anymore questions? No? Good night, then." With that, he and Lance turned and left the common room, leaving the students to wonder just what Salazar had found out that made him not trust the man. After all, even if he did seem slightly Hufflepuff-ish, he seemed fairly trustworthy.

Jonathan and Lance, meanwhile, were hurrying down the corridor towards their rooms.

"I can't believe that stupid portrait," Jonathan was fuming. Lance stopped and stared. "Okay, I can, but still! He's coming," he said suddenly, stopping to listen.

"How the hell can you tell that?" Lance snapped.

"He's swearing in Parseltongue. It apparently carries farther than human languages." Lance resumed staring. "Come on, if he's gonna insist on talking to me, it's not going to be out in the halls where anyone could hear."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"Are you actually telling me you're about to pass up a chance to talk to your favorite founder?" Jonathan asked, turning around, an innocent expression on his face, as they reached the door to his rooms. Lance rolled his eyes. "Oh good." Apparently seeing an answer in that gesture, Jonathan pushed open the door. He immediately bounded over to his bookshelf.

"You can_not_ tell me your still unpacking," Lance said, sinking down into one of the armchairs.

"Of course not! I'm trying to make my CD player work," Jonathan said indignantly.

"And why, exactly, do you insist on keeping that useless hunk of muggle metal?"

"Because magic has yet to compensate," Jonathan said offhandedly, examining the 'useless hunk of muggle metal' closely. "Kinda like lighting. What is an underage kid to do in the middle of July when it's too hot to light a fire?"

"Muggle born children would have electricity," Lance pointed out smoothly. "As, most likely, would half-bloods. The rest would be purebloods, most of which could call a house elf or get their manors to provide light."

"What a lame excuse," Jonathan grinned as he heard Salazar's hissing get decidedly louder. "What are the walls supposed to do? Glow? And disturbing those poor house elves for some _light_? Anyway, I believe we were discussing music, not lighting. What's your all-powerful solution there?"

Salazar cleared his throat, intending on startling at least one of the two. Neither even looked at him, however, as they were quite content to carry on their argument.

"Excuse me!" he finally interrupted, losing his patience and his temper rather quickly.

"If you wanted our attention, all you had to do was ask," Jonathan said innocently. "And honestly, if you want to sneak up on someone, don't swear in Parseltongue, it carries too far." Salazar, although completely shocked, managed to keep his mask in place.

"And just how did you know I was coming?" he asked. He would be fairly certain of the answer if it were anyone but a Potter. "Parseltongue is extremely hard to hear."

"Now that would be telling, wouldn't it," Jonathan smirked.

"You're a Speaker as well, aren't you," Salazar said, staring intently. Jonathan nodded. The room was silent as Jonathan and Lance waited for Salazar's reaction. Well, mostly silent. At least there was no talking. Jonathan did, however, turn his attention back to his CD player.

"Hey! I figured it out!" he exclaimed into the silence roughly five minutes later.

"About time," Lance grumbled. "That stupid thing has occupied the majority of your free time for the past two years, and at least a part of it for the four years before that. Just what makes it work?"

"The reviving charm," Jonathan replied.

"Did you just start throwing random spells at it?"

"Not completely random. After all, I haven't used an Unforgivable, or any other torture spell. I didn't douse it in water or set it on fire. After you remove the spells that would have harmed it, there aren't _too_ many left." Lance seemed unable to find an answer for this.

"How were you placed in Gryffindor?" Salazar asked, breaking his long silence.

"I asked the hat to place me there. Actually, I asked it to place me anywhere but Slytherin." This thread of conversation continued for a while before Jonathan stood, announcing that he was going to bed, but that Lance and Salazar were more than welcome to remain. The two nodded, barely noticing when he left the room.

The next morning, Jonathan came out of his room to find Lance asleep in the chair Jonathan had left him in, and Salazar snoring softly in a picture frame.

"Oh for the love of…," he muttered before calling a house elf. "Would you please bring me a cup of coffee. I'm afraid Professor Collins is going to need quite a bit of caffeine." The house elf nodded before popping out of sight, leaving Jonathan with the problem of waking Lance.

Shrugging, he quickly levitated Lance out of his chair until he hovered about twenty centimeters off the ground, when canceled the spell. Lance landed on his arse, waking with a startled yell.

"Just what time is it?" he complained as he stood. The house elf chose that moment to pop in with coffee, which Lance eagerly accepted.

"Time for breakfast. I suggest you either borrow robes or hurry to your rooms for your own." Lance nodded absently, absorbed in his caffeine. Jonathan sighed before summoning a set of his robes. His eyes widened as the hot pink and electric blue robes Hermione had given him as a gag came soaring towards him. Why had Dobby packed those? And why hadn't he taken them out? Eyeing Lance warily, he charmed them black as Lance took another _long_ drink of coffee. He wordlessly handed over the robes when motioned to, hoping no one would cast a _Finite_ anywhere near those robes. Magic performed on clothes from a magical store was unstable, and easily reversed. After all, they wouldn't want to go out of business when everyone charmed their clothes, now would they?

All too soon, in Jonathan's opinion, breakfast was over, and they were heading for their first classes. Glancing at his schedule, he noticed he had Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff first years for a double period.

"Hello," he said cheerfully as he entered the room, seeing that every single nervous first year was already there. "As Professor Dumbledore announced last night, I am Professor Granger, and I will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Today, we will be learning the Disarming charm. Does anyone know the incantation for this charm?" Several hands shot into the air. "Yes?" he asked a nearby Ravenclaw.

"_Expelliarmus_," the boy answered promptly.

"Very good. Five points to Ravenclaw. Now, this charm does exactly what it sounds like…"

His classes continued smoothly until he got to the fourth hour of the day, the seventh year N.E.W.T. class. As many of them had just come from Lance's N.E.W.T. Potions class, he knew they'd be talking as they walked in. What he didn't expect was for Lance to come with them. In hot pink and electric blue robes.

"What happened?" Jonathan asked, going for innocent. After all, Lance had been extremely out of it when he had summoned the robes, so he most likely didn't remember. And someone could charm the robes in exactly the same pattern, right? After all, coincidences happened…right? Well, if they did, he had never heard of one.

"You know perfectly well what happened," Lance snapped, glaring murderously. Some of the students even shrank back from the glare.

"I have a guess," Jonathan admitted. Lance's glare went up a notch.

"And just _why_ did you feel the need for me to wear these particular robes?"

"It wasn't those particular robes. I just kinda summoned some, since you were too involved in your caffeine to leave. Those were the ones that came. So, I charmed them black and prayed that no one could cast a _Finite_ around you."

"Well we can all see how well _that_ worked out."

"I'm sorry! Goodness, you'd think I'd conjured one, and _that_ spell had come undone," Jonathan said, growing frustrated. "Don't you have a class to terrorize?" At that moment, the bell rang. Lance glared, but left, although his look clearly said that this wasn't over.

"What exactly did one of you try to prevent?" Jonathan asked, turning back to the class, knowing that most of them had been in the N.E.W.T. potions class the hour before. No one said anything, as he expected, but from the glares Remus was shooting James and Sirius, he had a fairly good idea. "It wouldn't happen to be that someone tried to prank him, and someone else tried to prevent it, would it? Because I kind of doubt that he didn't already know it was there; after all, there are many ways to know if someone cast a spell on your chair while you were talking to someone, isn't there Mr. Black?"

Sirius jumped. "Yes, sir," he answered slowly, wondering just how the professor had known he had cast one. Jonathan simply smirked at him.

"Now, for today's lesson, we'll be going over spells that will be most useful in a duel…"

The rest of the afternoon passed less eventfully than the morning had, and by dinner, Jonathan was quite certain _something_ had to go wrong, as it had been too quiet for too long.

"Ah! Jonathan! Just the person I wanted to see. Or, rather, one of them," Dumbledore exclaimed as Jonathan took his seat at the staff table.

"And to what do I owe that honor?" Jonathan asked, internally groaning at the implications Dumbledore's statement could hold.

"I need to talk to you and Lance about starting a little dueling club," Dumbledore said, smiling as if he had just handed Jonathan all he had ever wanted.

"Do I have to?" Jonathan asked. Dumbledore's smile didn't falter.

"I do believe you and Lance are the best qualified for the position, and we really must teach these children how to defend themselves better with the war continuing to rage."

"Why do you even pretend to get my opinion on this? You already know what I'm going to say," Jonathan sighed, sinking back in his chair in defeat.

"Because it's so nice to have assumptions proved right," Dumbledore smiled. Or smirked. But since Albus Dumbledore, great Leader of the Light, could risk his reputation by smirking, it was a smile.

"Uh-huh, whatever," Jonathan sighed again, turning his attention to the table as food appeared in front of him.

"Just what did he want?" Lance asked, settling down next to him, no trace of pink or blue left on his robes, not like that would make any difference. Both men knew that, by now, just about everyone, from Gryffindor first years to Slytherin seventh years, knew that their Potions Professor had wore pink and blue robes at one point during the day.

"He has decided that Hogwarts needs a dueling club," Jonathan sighed yet once more.

"And you have to teach it?" Jonathan shook his head. "Then what's the matter?"

"We have to teach it."

Author's Note: How'd you like it? Tell me in a review! Thanks to all who have reviewed so far!

Would any of you possibly be interested in beta-ing this story? Or any of mine, for that matter? Not necessarily for grammer or spelling, although that would be greatly appreciated, but more to check if it flows, or if I explained something well enough. If you wouldn't mind doing that, please tell me in a review.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize!

Author's Note: It's been a while, huh? This chapter has actually been completed for some time, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to add something more to it. I finally decided to heck with it, and to post it! Hope you enjoy!

Fraternizing with the 'Enemy

Chapter 4

School had been in session about a week. Harry now knew exactly where his skills in Potions came from. Not that there had been any doubt before. He was, however, happy to say that he wasn't _quite_ as bad at them as his father was.

Harry looked up from the essay he was grading as the bell rang, signaling the start of the next period. He glanced around the room, spying everyone who should be there, and no one who shouldn't.

"Alright, class," Harry said, standing up. "Today we will be playing a game that will help with your dodging abilities, and a bit with your accuracy when using muggle weapons. Or throwing, to be more precise." With a flick of his wrist, the desks were against one side of the room, which had been expanded. Eight sponge balls had been conjured, and were laying along a line that divided the room in half. Eight bright orange cones, four on each side of the room, sat along two more lines. "The object of this game is to knock over the given amount of cones first. This is, first and foremost, a game of strategy. Are you going to guard the cones? If so, who will? Which cone should you throw at? The rules are fairly simple. Each team will choose a side. When I say go, you will run to the middle, and try to bring as many of the balls back as you can. You then throw the ball at the other team, trying to get players out or knock a cone over. If you hold the ball longer than 20 seconds, you will be out. If you cross the centerline, you will be out. If a ball hits you, you will be out. If someone catches the ball you threw, you're out. There is an anti-cheating charm in place to keep people from staying in that should be out, and to keep the cone-guarders from standing on the cones. Are there any questions?" He looked around the room. "No? All right. Please put your wands in your bags. Today, I'm going to let you pick your own teams. The next time we play, however, I will most likely have already picked teams. The Head Boy and Head Girl will pick."

Harry sat back as James and Lily made their way to the front of the classroom. He wasn't the least bit surprised when James's first two picks were Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Lily, however, seemed to be thinking more about strategy, effectively getting the Keeper and other two Chasers in the room.

"Now, to your sides," Harry said as the last person was picked. "Each person on the winning team will get three house points. Just get one cone… Go!"

People from each side dashed forward. Soon, sponge balls of all sizes were flying every which way. Quite a few people from both sides were already out. Harry watched everyone, trying to gauge different strengths to be nurtured and weaknesses to be overcome. One of the Hufflepuff girls on James's team seemed to have magnificent luck, for now, anyway. She had been made a pin guarder, so balls were quite often thrown at her. None hit her, however. Few even came close. Sirius and James were easily the best players on their team, although there were a few who weren't too far off. He was actually quite surprised at Lily's aim. She didn't throw a ball often, but when she did, it was usually dead on. She couldn't catch, however, and got out about half way through when she didn't dodge fast enough.

Lily had, overall, picked the better team. Or, at least, it seemed that way when it came down to three people, Sirius, James, and the Hufflepuff girl, versus six from Lily's team. The numbers were slowly whittled down even more, both teams finding it easier to hit opposing team members than the orange cones. Finally, however, Gregory Haden, from Ravenclaw, managed to get a cone.

"Not bad," Harry said. "Now you're going to play a different version." That said, he vanished the cones. "The goal is to get all the members of the other team out. First team to accomplish this wins. Now…Go!"

There was the same mad scramble for the red balls down the center of the room. Soon, they were being flung in every direction. Some people hung back, content to lean against the walls on either side, waiting to get hit. Harry was quite surprised when he saw Lily was one of them, along with quite a few of the Slytherins. Slowly, members of both sides were taken out. Slowly, players that had been reclining against the walls stepped up and started playing. Soon, it was down to Lily and James. James decided this was as good of a time as any to try to flirt. While doing this, however, Lily took advantage of his distraction, and threw a ball at him. James ducked, but not far enough, and the ball smacked him in the face. His team groaned while Lily's cheered. Harry could only laugh.

"Alright, now, as much as it pains me to say it, we must return to normal class. However, you _will_ play this again," Harry said as he vanished the balls and lines, put the classroom back to the right size, and moved the desks back into place. "Like it or not. Now, in a duel, which is the most important spell? Is it the first one? Or the last one? Or one in between?"

* * *

She glanced around her rooms, seeing everything, yet nothing at all. Oddly enough, it wasn't the fact that her son had come back in time that threw her, but who he had come back in time _with_.

She had been late to the staff meeting that day, and hadn't noticed the new arrivals until she had seen them rushing out of the gargoyle. First, she had seen her completely grown son. He had rushed right passed. While she was staring after him in shock, someone else almost ran her over. A hurried 'Sorry' had been thrown at her while James Potter's doppelganger had continued to sprint down the hall. She walked up to the office in a daze, passing McGonagall on the stairs. Once there, it had been explained to her. Of course, none but the Headmaster knew just why it would affect her so much.

Her son was teaching Potions now, and the one who had almost ran her over, Harry Potter, was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. While she had missed the duel between those two and the rest of the faculty as she had already left to unpack by the time the two had returned, she had heard that it had been absolutely amazing. They apparently worked very well together, which she found a bit difficult to believe, as Potter, _Granger_, she corrected herself, had undoubtedly been told since birth that all Slytherins were evil, particularly her son. Of course, if the boy's eyes were anything to go by, his mother was Lily Evans. How that had happened, she had no idea, as Lily, for all apparent reasons, hated James. However, she had to admit that she liked Lily, who was always polite to everyone. Of course, she had yet to actually speak to the boy.

* * *

Harry wandered into the library. School had been in session for roughly a month, and he still didn't know for sure if the books the essay would require were old enough to be in here. He said hello to Madame Pince before heading back to the restricted section. He only stayed long enough to make sure the books that the seventh years would need for the essay he wanted to assign were there before turning to leave.

"Did you find what you needed?" Madame Pince asked as he passed her desk.

"Yes, thank you. Just making sure the appropriate books were here," he grinned.

"Do you enjoy teaching?" she asked.

"Somewhat," Harry shrugged. "I don't mind it. I don't like it nearly as much as, say, Hermione does. She absolutely adores teaching."

"So what do you do? I understood you hadn't taught for some years."

"I work in the Department of Mysteries, actually." He could tell Madame Pince was dying to ask what part of it, but wouldn't. It wasn't as if he could tell her anyway. He glanced down at his watch and swore. "I've got to run. See you later." Madame Pince had barely had time to say good-bye before he was out of the library, sprinting down the hall.

* * *

There was absolutely no way around it. James Potter was bored. Sirius was on yet another date, Remus was putting together a homework schedule for N.E.W.T.'s, and Peter had a detention. He glanced up when he heard the portrait leading to the Head's common room open.

Lily and some of her friends came in, all laughing. James gazed at her for a second before rising, content on continuing to be bored in his room. He would go out and fly, but he knew the Slytherins had the Quidditch field today, as they were _still_ trying to find a decent Seeker. Now, they hadn't, of course, told him, captain of the Gryffindor team, their troubles. He had overheard this fortunate piece of information when two of the Slytherin team had been made to stay behind in Defense, after they got in trouble for talking. Professor Granger had actually offered to _help_ them, saying that he would be glad to help train the best one they could find. He told them that he knew how hard it could be to find decent players, and that once, in his first year as captain, he had wound up with people from opposing houses try out, although that was on their own free will, not because he needed players.

Making up his mind, he rushed into his room, grabbed his invisibility cloak and the Marauders Map, then rushed back out, through the portrait hole, and down to the Quidditch field. As he neared, swinging the cloak over him, he saw what appeared to be the majority of Slytherin standing around, brooms in hand. Most looked like they'd rather be anywhere else. The team must have really been desperate. He turned as he heard someone sprinting. He barely moved fast enough to avoid being plowed over. Professor Granger stopped just before he would be in sight of the team, looking like he had walked the entire way. James was impressed. The man _had_ to be in good shape to be able to run the entire way from the school, and most likely from his rooms, at least, as that was…quite a distance. He hurried closer.

"I would _assume_ you all know why you're here," the captain was sneering. 'Gees,' James thought. 'You'd think if they were that desperate for players they'd be a little nicer.'

James watched as the group was whittled down, until only the best Seeker was left. She was a third year that, while maybe not the absolute best flyer right then, definitely had the most potential. He watched as Professor Granger gave her some pointers, and she flew off, apparently eager to try them out, as the rest of the team practiced.

James edged closer as the practice wore on. Professor Granger definitely knew what he was talking about, but the Slytherins didn't, for the most part, want to listen. James couldn't say that especially surprised him. After all, the professor had to train someone for them because they couldn't do it themselves. Of course they'd be a tad resentful.

He watched as the team made their way back to the castle, and as the professor got the bludgers back out and, picking up a practice bat, started hitting them in all directions. He quickly seemed to tire of that, however, and put the bludgers up, only to release the snitch. James watched as he darted back and forth before swooping down, catching the snitch, and releasing it again. James didn't move until he heard someone approach from the castle. He turned to see Professor Collins walking towards the pitch.

"What are you _doing_?" he called up to Professor Granger.

"Solving the problem of world hunger. What does it _look_ like I'm doing?" Granger snapped back.

"Get down here," Collins sighed.

"No." James knew that would be a mistake. Collins didn't strike him as the sort that would _ever_ take well to being talked back to, especially when he was apparently trying to help someone.

"_Yes_," Collins replied. James saw him shoot a spell at Granger. He watched as the Defense professor let it hit his broom, and take him back to the ground. "She wouldn't have wanted you to quit doing something you loved, you know."

Collins responded, but James couldn't hear him, which he found odd as he appeared to be yelling. Suddenly, it hit him that one of the professors must have put up a silencing ward. James was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice they had started moving until they were nearly half way back to the castle.

* * *

Author's Note: How'd you like it? Tell me in a review! Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter! 


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